Checkatrade and Rated People compete for the same UK homeowner and the same UK tradesperson roster while running fundamentally different cost structures. Checkatrade is a vetted subscription directory — tradespeople pay a monthly flat fee and receive inbound homeowner contact without per-lead costs. Rated People, owned by Permira PE (a global private equity firm), stacks two revenue streams on tradespeople: tiered monthly subscriptions (reportedly £35 / £95 / £225 per tier) plus per-lead credits (reportedly £4-£25 each, varying by job value). The homeowner-facing experience converges into something similar — a directory of vetted tradespeople with quote requests — but the tradesperson economics drive meaningful downstream differences the homeowner can feel in match quality and quote pricing.
Quick verdict table
| Dimension | Checkatrade (as of 2026) | Rated People (as of 2026) | AskBaily |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Checkatrade Ltd | Permira PE portfolio company | Independent |
| Model | Flat-fee vetted subscription directory | Tiered subscription + per-lead credit stack | 1 homeowner → 1 matched trade |
| Tradesperson cost | Reportedly ~£40-£100+/mo flat | Reportedly £35/£95/£225 tiers + £4-£25 per lead | $0 up-front; take-rate on closed jobs |
| Homeowner contact model | Browse directory, contact directly | Post job, receive bids from matched trades | AI scope → 1 intro |
| Vetting at signup | 12-point verification per Checkatrade materials | Documented vetting per Rated People site | Same rigor + live re-check at every match |
| Gas Safe / NICEIC / TrustMark check | Displayed if provided; not per-match | Displayed if provided; not per-match | Live check at match-time |
| Tradesperson double-dip risk | Low — flat subscription only | High — tier subscription stacks on top of per-lead | None — fees only on close |
| Typical homeowner quote volume | 1-3 (homeowner-initiated) | 3-5 (bid-driven) | 1 matched |
| PE-ownership homeowner risk | Standalone operator | Private equity capital structure shapes pricing decisions | Independent |
| Party Wall / Building Regs awareness | Not platform-level | Not platform-level | Integrated into scope pass |
How Checkatrade works
Checkatrade (https://www.checkatrade.com) is a flat-fee UK subscription directory. Tradespeople pay a monthly membership (reportedly ~£40-£100+ depending on tier, trade, and geography) and in return appear in homeowner searches with vetted-member status. The platform's 12-point verification at signup covers identity, references, insurance confirmation, and trade-specific credentials. Homeowners browse the directory and initiate contact directly with tradespeople they select. Checkatrade does not layer per-lead or per-bid fees on top of the subscription — the flat monthly fee is the revenue event.
How Rated People works
Rated People (https://www.ratedpeople.com) is a UK marketplace owned by Permira PE. The tradesperson cost structure layers tiered monthly subscriptions (reportedly £35 for the entry tier, £95 for a mid tier, and £225 for a premium tier with higher placement and category reach) on top of per-lead credit fees (reportedly £4-£25 per lead, scaling with job value). Homeowners post a job; matched tradespeople who have sufficient credits and are in the right tier for the category submit bids. Homeowners shortlist from the bids received.
Head-to-head: where Checkatrade wins
- Simpler, more transparent tradesperson cost structure — a flat monthly fee is easier to amortize predictably than a tier + per-lead stack. That predictability tends to produce more stable tradesperson behavior and more predictable homeowner pricing.
- One-time vetting signal is stronger per-tradesperson — Checkatrade's 12-point signup verification is consistent across all members; Rated People's vetting is real but the tiered structure can obscure whose credentials were checked when.
- No per-lead adversarial selection — Checkatrade tradespeople aren't choosing whether a specific homeowner job is worth a £15 credit; they respond because they pay to be in the directory, not per event. That's a different incentive gradient.
- Better match between tradesperson subscription and homeowner experience — the homeowner browses and selects; the tradesperson responds. No algorithmic filtering based on which tier the tradesperson is paying for.
Head-to-head: where Rated People wins
- Bid-driven shortlisting is more useful for renovation scope — the homeowner sees three to five actual bids with scope responses and prices, materially better than selecting from a directory of availability.
- Higher response velocity — per-lead credit economics incentivize fast response; tradespeople who don't respond lose the bid opportunity. Directory-browse platforms have slower tradesperson response times on average.
- Lower barrier for new tradespeople — the entry tier (£35/mo) plus per-lead pricing is more accessible than Checkatrade's baseline subscription for tradespeople testing paid-platform economics.
- More active marketing engine — Rated People's bid-driven UX converts homeowners to quote-requests faster, which produces more active tradesperson job flow at the cost of more competition per job.
The hidden cost neither reveals
Checkatrade's hidden cost is the subscription overhead amortization discussed on the Checkatrade vs MyBuilder comparison — tradespeople paying £40-£100+/mo build that cost into their quote book across a year of work. Consistent across the category, not unique to Checkatrade.
Rated People's hidden costs are bigger and double-stacked. A tradesperson paying £95/mo subscription + £15 per lead with a realistic close rate builds both costs into their quotes: roughly £150-300 per closed job in pure platform spend before labor, materials, or margin. That's more than Checkatrade's amortized subscription cost on equivalent work. The gap isn't always visible in individual quotes because tradespeople compete against each other, but across the market it shifts average pricing up a meaningful margin.
Rated People's private equity ownership also matters. Permira's capital structure requires return on invested capital, which creates ongoing pressure to extract more revenue from tradespeople, homeowners, or both. The observed pattern across PE-owned marketplaces (Rated People, Angi historically, various European platforms) is gradual fee expansion over time — tier creep, per-lead increases, new ancillary charges. Not a moral critique; it's how PE-backed platforms monetize. Homeowners and tradespeople should expect the cost structure in 2028 to be different (higher) than in 2026.
Both platforms also leave UK-specific regulatory work — Party Wall Act 1996 notices, Building Regulations approval routes, planning permission, Gas Safe / NICEIC / TrustMark live confirmation — to the homeowner. Neither verifies the tradesperson's current scope authorization at the moment of match.
When to pick Checkatrade anyway
Flat-fee predictability is the right choice when the homeowner values stable tradesperson economics and doesn't want to navigate bid dynamics. Also valid for pre-scope discovery browse and for recurring small-trade relationships where the tradesperson's subscription aligns with ongoing work volume.
When to pick Rated People anyway
Quote-driven renovation work where the homeowner wants several bids with scope responses and price comparisons, and where the per-lead incentive for fast response actually benefits the homeowner's timeline. The bid structure is genuinely better than directory-browse for scope-specific jobs, even with the stacked platform overhead.
The third option neither mentions
AskBaily is staged for UK rollout and runs a structurally different economic model from both. Baily conducts an AI scope pass — project type, scope boundaries, Party Wall implications, Building Regulations route, planning permission requirements — and matches to one tradesperson after live Gas Safe, NICEIC, NAPIT, TrustMark, and insurance verification at the moment of match. Zero tradesperson subscriptions. Zero per-lead credits. The tradesperson pays nothing until the job closes; AskBaily's revenue is an 8-15% tiered take-rate on the closed job price.
This alignment matters because it eliminates the amortized platform tax that shows up in both Checkatrade and Rated People quotes, and because it eliminates the PE-driven fee-expansion trajectory Rated People's ownership structure implies. AskBaily has a single revenue event per project: the closed job. No tier creep, no per-lead drift, no subscription-whether-you-close mechanic.
FAQ
Is Rated People owned by a big corporation? Yes. Rated People is a portfolio company of Permira, a global private equity firm. Checkatrade is independently owned. The ownership structure affects long-term pricing trajectory — PE-owned platforms tend to increase extraction rates over time, independent platforms tend to be more stable.
Are Checkatrade tradespeople actually more vetted than Rated People tradespeople? Both platforms run signup vetting. Checkatrade's 12-point process is publicly documented; Rated People's vetting is per the platform's published terms. Both verify credentials at signup. Neither re-verifies at the moment of match. Homeowner-side verification through Gas Safe Register, NICEIC, NAPIT, or TrustMark is the only way to confirm current authorization for regulated work.
Will Rated People get more expensive over time? Private equity-owned platforms typically increase fee structures over their hold period. Specific changes aren't publicly announced, but the structural incentive exists. Checkatrade, as an independent flat-fee operator, has less structural pressure toward fee expansion.
What's the real cost-to-homeowner difference between the two? In practice, a few percent on comparable quotes. Rated People's higher tradesperson overhead (£95/mo + £15/lead vs Checkatrade's flat £40-100/mo) shows up as modestly higher average quotes for equivalent work. Individual quote variance is larger than the platform-level gap, so homeowners should price-check both against a third data point.
Does AskBaily charge UK homeowners? No. AskBaily's revenue is an 8-15% tiered take-rate on the closed job price, paid by the tradesperson on completion. Homeowners use AskBaily for free. The take-rate replaces the embedded platform-tax that shows up in Checkatrade and Rated People quotes.
Does AskBaily verify tradesperson Gas Safe registration live? Yes. The match-time check queries the Gas Safe Register directly to confirm the tradesperson's ID is current and covers the scope. Same pattern for NICEIC (electrical), NAPIT (electrical / plumbing / heating), TrustMark (building work), and HETAS (solid fuel) where applicable.
Is AskBaily live in London yet? Staged for launch through 2028. If the metro isn't yet active, we surface that honestly and refer out rather than fake coverage.